‘Climate-Ready: A Practical Guide to Prepping in the Era of Global Boiling‘ is available on Amazon.

It’s the end of the world- again.

As tempting as it is to frame things in such a way, the truth is rarely so dramatic. Standing on street corners waving signs that declare ‘The End is Nigh’ is a good way to get attention (and a fair number of odd looks). But it does very little to impress upon the public the context or in fact, the severity of our future. Unfortunately, Armageddon fails to oblige our need for drama and often inflicts reality upon us instead. The end of the world comes not with a bang, but with a slowly creeping heat that eats away at our ozone layer and overstays its welcome more each winter.

As such, we’ll leave the drama here and focus instead on the facts.

If you’ve picked up this book, the chances are that you are already well aware of the state of our climate crisis. Strangely enough the denial of climate change has completely failed to wish it away and we have now progressed into what many are calling ‘climate boiling.’ Like a pot on the stove we have been left to slowly simmer, ignoring all chances to turn down the heat, and it was only a matter of time before it all boiled over.

But too-hot days are not the concern here. With global temperatures at an all-time high, and still rising, we have already begun to see changes to our weather. Wildfires, cyclones, flooding and heat waves are just a few of the natural disaster impacts we can see sweeping across the nation. Recently California saw its worst drought in recorded history, lasting six years, only to finally end with a storm season that marked the second wettest season in history for the state.

This see-saw effect is relatively common. We’re seeing opposite extremes in the same region. The same neighbourhood that flooded the year before may be beset by raging wildfires in the next. Nature is putting its foot down and coming at us from all sides, and with so many conflicting effects it is difficult to brace for whatever is coming next.

Difficult, yes. But not impossible.

The worst thing we as a people can do at this point is put our heads in the sand. Continuing on in denial will do nothing except leave us vulnerable to these impacts catching us off guard. While it’s true that global warming hits regions and demographics differently, it does hit all of us. And it will hit hard.

If we are to stand a chance against the volley of storms and famine, then it is crucial that people find the strength and knowledge to prepare for it.

The intention of this book is to arm you with the tools you will need to fortify your home and improve your overall resilience in the face of this pending disaster. Through these chapters you will find advice on how best to prepare for natural impacts like wildfires and storm surges, as well as the disruption to your access to electricity, transport and more.

It’s a grim undertaking, but one that could save your life. So, without further delay, let us delve into what it means to become Climate-Ready.

Before prepping for battle it is important to know your enemy. Climate Change is a vast subject that could take up a whole book on its own, but for the purposes of this guide we will spend a chapter to explain what you need to know, and why it affects you.

Climate Change, as we refer to it in this guide, speaks to the long-term shift in temperature and weather patterns within our climate. The industrial revolution ushered in a new age of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. The burning of these generates greenhouse gas emissions which, alongside methane gas, trap the sun’s heat and cause our earth’s atmosphere to warm. You could imagine it like a blanket or layer of tinfoil that is wrapped around our planet, leaving it to steadily bake.

Since the 1800s, climate change has occurred faster and more drastically than any other warming instance in recorded history. And almost all of it is due to human intervention. We as a people have steadily worked towards our own demise, both from the heedless consumption of fossil fuels and the deforestation of trees, which are a natural processor of carbon dioxide and are doing their best to keep our atmosphere clean.

The average temperature of the Earth’s surface has risen by around 1.1 degree Celsius (33 degrees Fahrenheit). Which doesn’t sound like a lot in the grand scheme of things, until you consider that an increase of just 3 degrees Celsius is enough to render our planet nearly uninhabitable. That’s enough to cause a combination of intense flooding, drought, storms, loss of agriculture and resources…and the list goes on. When it comes down to it, practically every aspect of our livelihoods stems from our reliance on nature, all the way down to the grass that feeds our cattle.

Unfortunately, current projections see us reaching a 2.8 degree rise by the end of the century. And since oil companies seem unlikely to release their death grip on the economy any time soon, and entire governments are still bickering about whether or not the future of our planet is worth the investment, it is best to start preparing for the worst.

Of course there are some valid questions that come up when discussing climate change. A common one, particularly with climate change denialists, runs along these lines; “If Global Warming is real, why is it so cold?”

This is a logical, if misguided, way of thinking. After all, the term ‘global warming’ brings to mind overly warm summers and melting ice caps. Meanwhile some places like North America and North Asia are seeing colder winters than ever before. The two facts don’t seem to line up. At least not at a surface level observation.

But a deeper look into the cause of these harsh winters reveals an expected culprit. The effects of global warming can be seen in both extremes, both in drought and in snow.

In fact, we have seen something like this before. Those who know their history may be familiar with the ‘little ice age’ that overtook Europe in the 15th century. Temperatures dropped to their lowest point in about ten-thousand years. Following on the heels of the black plague, this event cast western Europe into an age of frost, leading to famine, disease and crop failures that wracked the region. In the centuries since, scientists have determined that it wasn’t a surprising winter that caused this chaotic event, but the unusually warm period that preceded it.

To understand, consider that the Atlantic Sea acts like an enormous conveyor belt. It carries currents through the natural process of cooling and warming. Warm water travels north until it reaches the Atlantic, where it inevitably cools and begins to sink back towards the equator. The effect of this is a system that spreads warmth to other regions of the globe. This circuit plays a crucial part in sea and wind temperature, particularly in coastal regions.

Due to the aforementioned warm period, a large amount of ice near Greenland melted into the ocean. This cooled the water enough to slow the circuit and offset the careful balance of this giant conduit.

At that point, the circulation process which is now referred to as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (or AMOC), came to a standstill. The water was too cold to travel north, and too warm to sink back down to the tropics. And because wind currents reflect the ocean currents, as the water cooled, so did the air, blowing bitterly freezing gusts into Europe.

To summarize: things heated up, enough ice melted to interfere with the natural warming process of ocean currents, and Europe was cast into an ice age as a result.

Knowing this, it is easy to see why scientists are wringing their hands about the ice caps melting. Most of what we take for granted about our natural world hinges on a series of very delicate balance systems, all of which can wreak havoc if disturbed even the slightest.

We have names for these processes, such as the butterfly effect and the food chain. If the pendulum swings too far one way, it is guaranteed to go careening back in the opposite direction. Which is how we see droughts ended by vicious storms. It’s how we can expect to see heavy flooding in the same areas that are vulnerable to wildfires. But more to the point, it’s why you’re seeing ice caps in June.

Another emotion that often comes up on this topic is offense. ‘Why is this my problem? I didn’t cause climate change!’

Campaigns raging against humanity for failing to revert the effects of global warming can leave a bitter taste in the mouth, especially if you are unlucky enough to have been born after most of the damage is done. Even the most well-meaning person, who walks to work every day, lives off of solar energy and only eats tofu, will not make much of a dent in the flow of carbon emissions being expelled by the population as a whole.

It is true that your individual choices are unlikely to have made much of a difference to this impending disaster. It is also true that each person’s choices are drops in the bucket that add to greenhouse gas emissions. And perhaps far more crucially, not even ten thousand people could ever equate to the amount of pollution contributed by a single oil giant.

But the purpose of this guide is not to place blame. It is to inform you, as gently as possible, that it does not matter who is at fault, only who is affected. And since that may very well include you, it’s worth making sure that you are armed with the knowledge and tools to weather the storm.